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The Pella girls basketball team handed Newton a sound 44-21 defeat last night to sweep the regular season series. The Dutch were out in front 27-14 at halftime, but an 11-1 scoring advantage in the third quarter put the Cardinals away for good. Pella Assistant Coach Wade Van Vark, who filled in for ill head coach Jerod Garland, said the team made sure to put away the win early on.

“What can I say, we came out, and it was a game where we maybe could have shifted into neutral a little bit, but they wanted to come out and they wanted to put it away right away, and they didn’t let up,” said Van Vark. “They knew that even though shots weren’t falling, if they did their job on the defensive end, then we could take care of business; and we did that.”

Dutch guard Lindsay Bentzinger scored a team-high nine points in the win, while forward Hali Steenhoek had a solid night with eight points and seven rebounds – including four on the offensive glass. With the win, the Pella girls are 8-2 on the season and 7-1 in Little Hawkeye Conference play going into Tuesday’s game at Oskaloosa.